Queensland jail staff resign over illicit sex as investigations into abuse of power continue

STAFF at two Queensland jails have resigned over illicit sex while others are being investigated for abuse of power, violence and drugs.

The "culture" at Townsville men's and women's prisons is frustrating one of the state's top bureaucrats as taxpayers foot the bill for regular investigations, suspensions on full pay and a high staff turnover.

The boss of Queensland prisons, Marlene Morison, admitted a small number of rogue staff at the men's jail who were causing problems were hard to sack because of due process.

Corrective Services confirmed two staff had resigned for having sex with prisoners, which is a breach of the code of conduct and sparks an immediate referral to the Crime and Misconduct Commission.

A staff member who found out his wife - who also worked at one of the jails - had an affair, used his private email account to threaten his wife's former colleagues for keeping the matter a secret.

He has since resigned.

It comes as a female corrections officer is recovering after being physically assaulted by a male colleague.

It is understood the offending colleague and several staff rang the woman at home to pressure her not to make a statement about the assault.

Queensland Health has also confirmed an employee is suspended on full pay for allegedly trying to smuggle in pharmaceutical drugs and a syringe into the men's prison.

Other cases include an investigation into pornography being sent between staff and an extra-marital affair between staff that sparked legal action because of alleged violence.

Over three weeks, The Courier-Mail put the information to Corrective Services, which refused to confirm or deny the details because "we don't make public comments about staff HR matters".

It said it could not total the cost of investigations, suspensions and re-training new staff. It said since 2009, seven staff had resigned while under investigation.

The ethical standards unit investigates complaints of official misconduct about paramedics, firefighters and jail staff across the state, yet one in five complaints are about Townsville's men's prison.

It is understood some staff at the jail are frustrated by the Corrective Services hierarchy, which prevents management from immediately suspending staff accused of wrongdoing.

Corrective Services deputy commissioner of statewide operations Peter Bottomley said: "the agency recognises there is an above average number of misconduct complaints in our Townsville complex and that we are targeting our efforts to resolve it. There is a relatively small number of staff involved who are part of a negative workplace culture and their behaviour is tarring the reputation of the many good staff we have working for us there.

"The agency recognises though that it is enormously difficult to achieve change of this nature".